Willoughby Corner

Intergovernmental Agreement

In June 2017, the City of Lafayette and Boulder County (and by extension, Boulder County Housing Authority) entered into an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) around this planned neighborhood of affordable workforce housing that helps demonstrate expectations and guide performance around the development. The IGA calls for 80% of all homes built on the property to be deed-restricted for rents and purchase prices that are well-below-market rate for residents. Of these, 20% should be for-sale and 80% should be rental (Section 9a/b/c). The rental homes are stipulated to serve people earning at or below 60% of the Area Median Income. And at least 10% of the rental homes must be set aside for people age 55 and older.

The IGA also stipulates that (in perpetuity) the land can only be used for affordable housing (Section 20a).

This IGA highlights past successes for the two entities in partnering to create affordable housing for families, seniors, disabled individuals, and others, but also acknowledges that “others still struggle to attain safe, decent, affordable housing in Lafayette” (Recital A/B).

Importantly, the IGA defines “affordable housing” as “housing for which the total cost of monthly rent payments, or the total cost of monthly payment of principal, interest, taxes, insurance including private mortgage insurance, and homeowner association dues, does not exceed the specified percentage of the Area Median Income and which is intended not to require payment of more than 30% of the gross monthly household income…” (Section 2).

These are the benefits of the planned neighborhood of affordable workforce housing listed in the IGA:

• People living in the new housing are likely to shop within Lafayette and increase the city’s sales tax base.
• People living in the housing will likely generate additional and new revenue to the City of Lafayette.
• The agreement is consistent with the city’s past and present policies on economic development and affordable housing initiatives.
• The agreement serves to provide benefit and advance the public interest and welfare of the city and county and residents and businesses within both.

The final plan for this housing in east Lafayette will be developed largely through guidance from this IGA; input received from a range of neighbors, community members, and other stakeholders; and the mission of the Boulder County Housing Authority to maximize access to affordable housing for a range of community members in need.

A second IGA was developed between Boulder County and the Boulder County Housing Authority which passes on all the requirements of the first agreement to BCHA.

Early character sketch by Coburn Architects of a design option for the neighborhood of affordable workforce housing

Community Outreach

Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA) is committed to engaging with neighbors and others in a productive conversation around how to meet the community’s broader needs for diverse housing, environmental sustainability, transportation, infrastructure, and more. To gain a full understanding of the surrounding neighborhoods and Lafayette more broadly, we spent several months immersed in the community, getting to know the land, the neighbors, and active community members in the area. This has helped shape and prioritize community outreach and engagement opportunities, including neighborhood planning, green space and trail connections, roadway connectivity, and mobility issues.

With this understanding of the community, we developed a Public Engagement Plan (PEP) that includes community wide engagement through open houses, community presentations, and the formation of the East Lafayette Advisory Committee (ELAC) – a community group of area residents and stakeholders who will help advise BCHA in implementing this engagement plan in the most inclusive and effective way, and who will engage with us in shared learning about the issues and interests behind the planned community of affordable workforce housing.

To date, outreach has consisted of distributing 5,000 flyers and postcards to nearby households and local businesses; 25 community meetings, including three held in Spanish; open houses with more than 500 attendees; and 10 meetings initiated by BCHA with the ELAC.

Concurrent with this outreach are ongoing presentations to community groups as well as backyard meetings and coffees with interested neighbors or groups who want to learn more about the planned housing and provide feedback. We are presenting and listening to neighborhood associations and business groups throughout the area. We welcome the opportunity to share our story and hear how we can make this affordable workforce housing community a model for both design and engagement.

Stay in Touch!

To facilitate community feedback, we have created multiple ways to communicate with our project
team and community ELAC members:

• You can email the ELAC Board and the BCHA Project Team at jasper@thepachnercompany.com Every email sent to this account will be shared with all members of the ELAC as well as relevant BCHA staff. This email is set up to provide open communication with fellow Lafayette community members and volunteers serving on the ELAC.
• BCHA’s Outreach team is available via phone, by calling 303-825-1671. For more information, or if you have general questions or comments, email us at HHSCommunications@BoulderCounty.org.
• Each ELAC meeting has dedicated time for public Q&A; see the information above for details about the next meeting.
• If needed, materials can be translated into a language of your preference.

East Lafayette Advisory Committee

The East Lafayette Advisory Committee (ELAC) is a group of individuals who volunteer their time to discuss details and make recommendations for Willoughby Corner’s design, amenities, and levels of service to the community. ELAC is comprised of representatives who live in areas adjacent to Willoughby Corner site and throughout the Lafayette community.

At the most recent ELAC meetings, BCHA provided updates on the Site Plan, conceptual architecture, and Willoughby Corner’s overall timeline and next steps. If you would like to watch the meetings, please feel free to access the recordings and presentation slides at these link:

• March 17th, 2023 ELAC Meeting
• March 20th, 2023 ELAC Meeting
• Presentation slides.

ELAC meetings include volunteer representatives from neighbors and community groups.

See the East Lafayette Advisory Committee Membership and Charter PDFs for additional information as well as ELAC Meeting agendas, presentations, materials and minutes:

• October 10th, 2022 – Presentation, Video Recording
• July 2022 – Video Recording
• June 18th, 2022 – ELAC Meeting
• June 9th, 2022 – Presentation
• April 18th, 2022 – ELAC Meeting
• Feb. 24th, 2022, 6:00PM – Agenda, ELAC Meeting
• Dec. 1st, 2021 – Notice, Agenda, Presentation, Video Recording
• Sept. 15, 2021 – Agenda, Minutes
• Sept. 24, 2019 – Agenda, Minutes
• July 15, 2019 – 06/14/2019 Sketch Plan comments, Minutes
• May 19, 2019 – Agenda, Minutes
• Feb. 11, 2019 – Agenda, Minutes
• January 7, 2018 – Agenda, Packet, Minutes
• Dec. 11, 2018 – Agenda, Presentation, Density comparable, Minutes
• Oct. 22, 2018 – Agenda, Draft site plan presentation, Traffic study presentation, Minutes
• Sept. 17, 2018 – Agenda, Minutes
• Aug.t 15, 2018 – Agenda, Minutes

You can watch a recording of the latest ELAC meeting here:

The East Lafayette Advisory Committee (ELAC) is a group of individuals who volunteer their time to discuss details and make recommendations for Willoughby Corner’s design, amenities, and levels of service to the community. ELAC is comprised of representatives who live in areas adjacent to Willoughby Corner site and throughout the Lafayette community.

At the most recent ELAC meetings, BCHA provided updates on the Site Plan, conceptual architecture, and Willoughby Corner’s overall timeline and next steps. If you would like to watch the meetings, please feel free to access the recordings and presentation slides at these link: March 17th,2023 ELAC Meeting, March 20th, 2023 ELAC Meeting, presentation slides.

Project Documents

The Boulder County Housing Authority is committed to transparency and an inclusive public process. Project related documents, submissions and materials are available below. Also refer to the Project History tab for earlier working documents.

9% funding application: BCHA’s presentation to the Colorado Housing Finance Agency a concept for a 63-unit senior building at Willoughby Corner.

Additional information can be read in our December 2021 Press Release

2018-2019 Community Meetings: BCHA and our community engagement firm, The Pachner Company, hosted a series of community open houses in Summer 2018 and Winter 2019 to introduce ourselves, provide an overview of the planned community and to help determine how we can best engage the public, the surrounding neighborhoods, and the broader community. The open houses featured several stations that attendees could visit related to various aspects of the planned community of affordable workforce homes. The following were the community meeting presentation boards:

• Community Engagement Approach
• Willoughby Corner Illustrative Plan
• Transportation Impacts
• Transportation Levels of Service
• Emma-Canterbury Roundabout
• Affordable Housing and The Need
• CDOT and Transportation
• Neighborhood Outreach
• Road Improvements
• Trail Connections and RTD Maps

Intergovernmental Agreements: Two intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) are in place between the City of Lafayette, Boulder County, and the Boulder County Housing Authority. Along with input received from neighbors, area residents, and other stakeholders, as well as BCHA’s mission to maximize the availability of affordable housing in our communities, these IGAs will help guide the final designs and plans for the neighborhood of affordable workforce homes.

• City of Lafayette and Boulder County
• Boulder County and Boulder County Housing Authority (extends requirements of the above IGA
  to include BCHA)

Project History

Willoughby Corner has been a long time in the making, with remarkably strong neighborhood support and community involvement. Below you will find a history of activities completed in 2018-2020.

Naming Contest

The name Willoughby Corner is a tribute to our community. In October 2018, BCHA held a “Lafayette, Name That Neighborhood” contest and engaged residents, local businesses, non-profit partners, and the East Lafayette Community Advisory Council (ELAC) to name this new community of workforce housing. BCHA received over 40 submissions from 25 residents for potential names for this project. Residents were asked to consider submissions that best represents the support affordable housing will provide to the Lafayette community, as well as to incorporate something important about this area, including history, present-day characteristics, and/or its people. As the Daily Camera noted in an article about the community naming effort, “The name ‘Willoughby Corner’ is based on the writings of an area historian, whose work spotlighted the area’s connections with the coal industry’s often-fraught past. Amid the violent clashes over unionization of mine workers during the early 1900’s that touched Lafayette’s mines, as well as the better-known clashes in southern Colorado, the American Fuel Company – owner of the Willoughby Mine – supported its workers.” Willoughby Corner was suggested by a Lafayette citizen and we believe it will welcome residents for generations to come in east Lafayette.

Design Workshop

Community Design Workshop Open House: Here is a presentation of the design suggestions developed by workshop participants. Please take the time to see the ideas area neighbors and other stakeholders came up with to plan for the new neighborhood. Here are the flyers (in English or Spanish) created by our engagement firm, The Pachner Company, who co-led this design workshop.

Design Workshop

An initial design workshop was held in August 2018 for the planned East Lafayette community of affordable workforce housing. Interested community members participated by sharing design ideas and preferences with other community stakeholders and the project team. Attendees made recommendations for the layout of the planned community, including housing types and locations, parks and trail amenities, and other infrastructure. Approximately 40 to 50 community members attended the open house. Participants learned about the project and shared their views on the opportunities and challenges presented by the site. The attendees then broke into nine small groups for an interactive land use exercise with a map of the site, building blocks, and construction paper to design the community.

After analyzing the community-designed plans, common themes emerged, including (but not limited to):

• providing a connection from Canterbury (by Peak to Peak) to 120th,
• providing a buffer along 120th and Emma,
• striving for lower intensity of uses along Emma St,
• prioritizing higher intensity of uses along the industrial edge, and
• encouraging multi-modal connections.

East Lafayette Advisory Committee

The first meeting of the ELAC was held on Aug. 15, 2018. At the second ELAC meeting (Sept. 17, 2018) members reviewed the outcomes from the Design Workshop Open House and provided additional feedback for consideration for the planning of the site. Most of the discussion was on the Design Workshop Open House planning outcomes that will guide the planning moving forward. The BCHA housing development team carefully reviewed the design suggestions from the Design Workshop Open House and ELAC members, and created three Draft site plans for community review. These plans reflected input received from neighbors and other area stakeholders combined with the mission of BCHA to increase the availability of affordable housing in our communities and the requirements of the intergovernmental agreement between BCHA and the City of
Lafayette.

The team presented draft site plans at the third ELAC meeting (Oct. 22, 2018) and also shared the draft site plans electronically with all ELAC members via email to allow one week to review the plans before the October ELAC meeting. At this meeting, the BCHA team also provided a presentation on the recent transportation/traffic study that was conducted near the planned housing site, and shared the latest information on transportation improvements planned for the area as well as other potential improvements that could result from the presence of the new neighborhood. Here is a PDF of the presentation that was given.

The fourth ELAC meeting (Dec. 10, 2018) included a re-cap of the recent “pre-application” meeting with City of Lafayette staff, a discussion around density, and a detailed look at the sketch plan process and timeline for the planned neighborhood of affordable workforce homes. Here is the presentation that was given, and here are the density comparables that were shared with the committee.

At the fifth ELAC meeting (Jan. 6, 2019), a proposed illustrative plan for the development was presented. The results and analysis of a traffic study of the area related to the proposal and its potential impacts were also shared. Here is the agenda for the meeting and the packet of materials that were reviewed and discussed by ELAC members.

Affordable Housing Development Fee

The City of Lafayette is supporting this planned affordable workforce housing. The fee, which went into effect in January 2016 and has been updated twice, now collects $1.00 per square foot on all new residential development to help fund permanently-affordable housing. In July 2019, this was updated to include a $1.00 per square foot affordable housing development fee on all new commercial development. Here is the ordinance describing this fee.

Willoughby Corner – Background

Amid skyrocketing housing prices across our county and along the Front Range, the Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA) is building a neighborhood of diverse housing options that will help the City of Lafayette and the broader region reach important goals for addressing the lack of housing affordability in the years ahead. Willoughby Corner will serve generations of families and individuals, elders, and our workforce, who need safe, stable, high-quality affordable homes.

BCHA proposes 400 permanently affordable homes in a variety of building types, including duplexes, townhomes, apartments, and community amenity spaces. The planned housing site is a 24-acre parcel located southwest of 120th Street and East Emma Street in Lafayette. The land parcel sits in an ideal location near important services and the Lafayette town center. The area is considered a priority by the Boulder County Transportation Department for the enhancement of multi-modal transportation options.

In 2017, The City of Lafayette, Boulder County, and Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA), partnered to purchase the vacant industrial-zoned land for $3.5 million to provide much needed affordable housing. The entities entered into an intergovernmental agreement (IGA), dedicating the land to create deed-restricted affordable housing, including rental and for-sale options. See below Intergovernmental Tab for more information.

BCHA is the official housing authority for all areas of the county beyond the city limits of Longmont and Boulder, including Lafayette. A significant portion of BCHA’s mission is to sustainably maximize access to and maintain quality affordable housing and appropriate services for residents of Boulder County, including middle-, low-, and very-low-income community members. We accomplish this mission through community collaboration, integrated services and programs, professional organization, effective management, and the pursuit and expansion of funding sources and land and building acquisition.

Willoughby Corner Project Team

A talented team of professionals will bring Willoughby Corner to life:

• Master Planning & Landscape Design – Norris Design
• Community Engagement – The Pachner Company
• Architect – HB&A Architecture and Planning
• MEP Engineering – Farnsworth Group
• Sustainability – Group 14
• Civil Engineering & Survey – Drexel, Barrell & Co.
• Transportation Consultant – Kimley-Horn
• Preconstruction Services – Pinkard Construction
• Tax Credit Counsel – SB Clark Companies
• Legal Counsel – Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
• Federal Tax Credit Investor – Hudson Housing Capital
• State Tax Credit Investor – Monarch Private Capital
• Lender – First Bank